How have I manged to MISS this thread all this time. This is solid gold stuff!
So here's one... it was oh, 10 years ago and DH and I are on our first cruise (not
DCL), an 11 night Western Caribbean, and our assigned table in the MDR was this beautiful table right in front of the large aft window overlooking the sea. It was the focal point of the MDR.
It was a large table for 12, so DH and I had 10 other table mates. Our table consisted of DH and me, a 3 generation family from New Jersey (of which I also hail from) who were very polite and were very excited because they had saved for years to take this 'once in a lifetime' cruise. All of us adults were joined with by lone gentlemen.
Over the course of the cruise, each night we all talked about our excursions, our families etc. but none of us talked about our careers or work, which DH and I were happy about since we went on this cruise to ESCAPE our stressful job. Well, none of us talked about our job except one: the lone gentleman.
Well, the first night in the MDR lone gentleman tells us that he is on board, gratis, because he is actually giving a series of lectures/talks for the passengers which, just so happens to be in the field of which DH and I (at the time) worked: Information Technology. DH and I nod and smile as he talks each night about his knowledge and encourages is to go and listen to one of his talks. Unfortunately, some of the things this gentleman was saying kinda made DH and I raise an eyebrow because he really didn't seem to know much about IT at all which caused DH and I to wonder if the cruise line actually vet these folks before offering them free passage in exchange for their 'expertise'.
Finally on night 8 of our cruise, at dinner, lone gentleman decides to explain some 'interesting' tips for computers and how to do some particular process but what he was saying was incredibly misleading and if any of the others in our party really tried it, would completely ruin their personal computers. At this point, DH and I could stand it no more. We politely called bull-crap and corrected him.
At this point, lone gentleman stands up, in the middle of the dining room and yells at DH and I, saying we have no idea what we are talking about that he is the expert on this ship and is sailing for free because he is such an expert. The rest of the MDR, witin rather close proximity stops to watch the exchange. Well, at that point, DH quietly reaches for his wallet and pulls out 10 of his business cards which clearly shows that he was (at the time) Director of IT for University which we work (I used to teach IT while he was Director of IT) and passes them around the table.
The family from NJ suddenly let their true colors show. Imagine nice and polite grandma suddenly displaying the vernacular of Snookie from Jersey Shore ash she was telling lone gentleman that he had just been schooled.
. It was priceless. The whole family suddenly was asking DH all kinds of questions about computers etc. and lone gentleman left the MDR.
We never saw him again the ENTIRE rest of the cruise.